A framework to evaluate and identify development requirements for land‐surface models at km‐scale resolution: Application to a semi‐arid and mountainous region
Abstract
Earth‐system and weather forecasting models are moving to km‐scale resolutions to provide more pertinent information to society on extreme events or the impacts of climate change. As some parametrized processes can be represented explicitly, increasing spatial resolution is expected to be beneficial for the atmosphere and oceanic components. It is not obvious that the same benefits will be achieved for land‐surface models (LSMs), as landscape organizing processes start to play a role. To evaluate the consequences of increasing resolution, six LSMs driven by 3‐km resolution forcings are compared with their reference simulation at 50‐km resolution. These high‐resolution atmospheric forcing data are developed over a region covering all catchments flowing off the Pyrenees. It is shown that these forcings capture the contrasts in atmospheric conditions between mountainous areas and valleys absent at coarser resolutions. At finer resolution, the LSMs display reduced evaporation over semi‐arid catchments, which cannot be explained by differences in the atmospheric forcings. The cause has to be sought in the lack of spatial redistribution of water within the catchments. The observed diurnal amplitude of land‐surface temperature shows that the models do not reproduce the local minima along rivers and in irrigated areas caused by increased evaporation. We conclude that, at km‐scale resolution, lateral transfers of water that organize landscapes play an important role in predicting evaporation correctly. At resolutions of a few deca‐kilometres, the contribution of grid‐cell lateral flows to evaporation can be neglected. However, at higher resolutions, groundwater, riparian recharge, and human water management for irrigation need to be simulated to represent realistic spatial contrasts in the surface fluxes that drive the atmosphere. We call upon the community to invest in the development of representation of these processes in LSMs, so that they are ready for higher resolution applications.
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BibTeX
@article{polcher2026framework,
title = {{A framework to evaluate and identify development requirements for land‐surface models at km‐scale resolution: Application to a semi‐arid and mountainous region}},
author = {Jan Polcher and Julie Collignan and Juan Pablo Sierra Perez and Gabriele Arduini and Sophie Bastin and Martin Best and Aaron Boone and Manel Bravo and Francesca Covella and Jasper M. C. Denissen and Cenlin He and Simon Munier and Marc Prange and Elena Shevliakova},
journal = {Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society},
year = {2026},
month = jun,
doi = {10.1002/qj.70229},
url = {https://hal.science/hal-05662176v1},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - A framework to evaluate and identify development requirements for land‐surface models at km‐scale resolution: Application to a semi‐arid and mountainous region
AU - Jan Polcher
AU - Julie Collignan
AU - Juan Pablo Sierra Perez
AU - Gabriele Arduini
AU - Sophie Bastin
AU - Martin Best
AU - Aaron Boone
AU - Manel Bravo
AU - Francesca Covella
AU - Jasper M. C. Denissen
AU - Cenlin He
AU - Simon Munier
AU - Marc Prange
AU - Elena Shevliakova
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/06/04
JO - Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society
DO - 10.1002/qj.70229
UR - https://hal.science/hal-05662176v1
AB - Earth‐system and weather forecasting models are moving to km‐scale resolutions to provide more pertinent information to society on extreme events or the impacts of climate change. As some parametrized processes can be represented explicitly, increasing spatial resolution is expected to be beneficial for the atmosphere and oceanic components. It is not obvious that the same benefits will be achieved for land‐surface models (LSMs), as landscape organizing processes start to play a role. To evaluate the consequences of increasing resolution, six LSMs driven by 3‐km resolution forcings are compared with their reference simulation at 50‐km resolution. These high‐resolution atmospheric forcing data are developed over a region covering all catchments flowing off the Pyrenees. It is shown that these forcings capture the contrasts in atmospheric conditions between mountainous areas and valleys absent at coarser resolutions. At finer resolution, the LSMs display reduced evaporation over semi‐arid catchments, which cannot be explained by differences in the atmospheric forcings. The cause has to be sought in the lack of spatial redistribution of water within the catchments. The observed diurnal amplitude of land‐surface temperature shows that the models do not reproduce the local minima along rivers and in irrigated areas caused by increased evaporation. We conclude that, at km‐scale resolution, lateral transfers of water that organize landscapes play an important role in predicting evaporation correctly. At resolutions of a few deca‐kilometres, the contribution of grid‐cell lateral flows to evaporation can be neglected. However, at higher resolutions, groundwater, riparian recharge, and human water management for irrigation need to be simulated to represent realistic spatial contrasts in the surface fluxes that drive the atmosphere. We call upon the community to invest in the development of representation of these processes in LSMs, so that they are ready for higher resolution applications.
SN - 0035-9009
SN - 1477-870X
ER -